This recording of an OK2Ask online professional development session from November 2016, opens in Adobe Connect. Explore the teacher-friendly features of TeachersFirst to help you save time in developing technology infused lessons. Participants will learn new strategies to incorporate the tools of the web successfully into any classroom. As a result of this session and through individual follow-up, teachers will: (1) Locate resources within TeachersFirst to provide real-world learning experiences for their students; (2) Locate and evaluate effective, web-based tools and resources in support of teaching and learning, both for themselves and for their students; (3) Evaluate TeachersFirst membership features applicable to their individual technology expertise and teaching situation; (4) Find solutions to individual questions or practical problems of their teaching situation by exploring TeachersFirst and/or asking live questions during the session; and (5) Plan to use the features of TeachersFirst's value-added reviews to plan technology infused lessons. This session is for teachers at ALL technology comfort levels.

In the Classroom

The archive of this teacher-friendly, hands-on webinar will empower and inspire you to use technology in the classroom and for professional productivity. As appropriate, specific classroom examples and ideas have been shared. View the session with a few of your teaching colleagues to find and share new ideas. Find additional information and links to tools at the session resource page. Learn more about OK2Ask and upcoming sessions here.

The Volunteers: Americans Join World War I, 1914-1919 curriculum has 22 lesson plans, and examines the volunteer service of Americans, primarily during the period of U.S. neutrality before entering the war. Each lesson has extensive resources and activities, including national and global standards, objectives, background essay, essential questions, instructions, activator or introduction, extension activity, assessments, teaching tips, student materials and handouts, plus links to maps, articles, websites, books, and videos. Lessons are primary-source-intensive with a wide variety of text types, promoting historical analysis skills and construction of knowledge. The topics include discussions of why people volunteer, what are humanitarian organizations, and what were women's roles in volunteer service in World War I as related to women's fight for equality. Also find how humanitarian relief efforts get organized and sustained and how young volunteers are involved in world affairs, historically and today, to explore. The National World War I Museum and Memorial is a partner to AFS Intercultural Program and helped develop this resource.

In the Classroom

Download individual lessons or the whole curriculum to be used offline. Engage students in an underlying theme or question, helping to bridge between past and present. Lessons are extensive and easy to adapt and use. Use handouts with a whole class, small group collaboration, or individual work. Be sure to download the Teacher Toolkit to take advantage of the extensive lesson resources. Use the Tips in each lesson to enhance your teaching experience, adapt activities to the global classroom, and find more activities and homework ideas. Visit the link to the Museum's companion exhibit, here, for more resources.

Can you guess the secret location? Explore landmarks from all over the world and try to guess the country where you are located. Begin by choosing your interests from categories such as history or entertainment. Begin play, but think quickly! Choose the correct location of each image within 12 seconds before it is marked wrong. As you select an answer, information is provided about the location of the correct response.

In the Classroom

Where in the World? is a great activity to play together on your interactive whiteboard when you have a few extra minutes of class time. Explore famous landmarks from the comfort of your room. Share the locations using Google Earth, reviewed here.

American Panorama includes interactive maps demonstrating changes in the United States since the 1800's. This ongoing project will be adding additional maps, current ones provide information on The Forced Migration of Enslaved People, Trails, Canals, and Foreign-Born Population. Click on any map to explore the many features including keyword searches and interactive timelines.

In the Classroom

Bookmark these interactive maps for use throughout the year to examine American issues in deeper detail. Share the locations using Google Earth, reviewed here, to get a first-hand look at the geography of the region. This tool is a great find for gifted students. Have them explore in-depth different changes to America over the past two centuries. Challenge students to make a multimedia presentation using information found in their research. Use a tool like Zeetings, reviewed here. Zeetings allows adding polls, videos, embeds, web links, PowerPoint, and PDFs.

Geopedia incorporates maps with Wikipedia to show Wikipedia articles for any location. Enter a location in the search bar to view a map with placeholders indicating Wikipedia articles in different areas on the map. Click on the placeholder to read the article. Change preferences for the search radius, number of results, and language using the settings link.

In the Classroom

Assign students various countries, regions, or continents to make comparisons of information found in the Wikipedia articles. Bring a greater understanding to current economic and environmental issues in many countries. World language (or World Cultures) classes can help students understand the cultures of the countries where the language is spoken. Compare specific attributes of two countries using an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here. Have cooperative learning groups use this resource to create online books about the country of their tour using a resource such as Bookemon, reviewed here.

National Geographic offers this kid-centric site as a companion to National Geographic Kids and Little Kids magazines. The focus is on information about animals, geography, and the natural world presented in a fun and engaging format. Use this busy interactive site for free, register to gain access to more content. Buttons on the home page lead to short videos, images, stories, polls, news bites, games, and activities. The site includes heavy advertising for the magazine subscriptions. A search box at the top right allows for exploration of the extensive content. Students may submit photos or comments to the "My Shot" picture gallery all of which are selected to be posted by site administrators.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

This site is perfect for interactive whiteboards or projectors. Display the site on your whiteboard to use as a learning center for students. Select videos for lesson introductions or flipped or blended learning activities. For language arts, practice finding the main idea or summarizing stories using these interesting informational texts. ESL/ELL learners can also find accessible news stories here. Choose words from stories to include with weekly spelling tests or as vocabulary builders. Assign different stories to groups of students to summarize and present to the class. Challenge cooperative learning groups to create videos about any article on the site. Upload images (use Creative Commons or other copyright-safe pictures) and use Moovly, reviewed here, for this project. Then share the videos on a site such as TeacherTube, reviewed here. Use the site for learning games that will appeal more to younger students. Preview all video since some feature animals hunting which may upset some students.

This recording of an OK2Ask online professional development session from July 2016, opens in Adobe Connect. Learn the basics of creating a virtual field trip of what students are reading using the Google Lit Trips concept and Google Maps. To motivate and enrich student reading, collect web resources and images about a title and place them geographically using the power of Google Maps, instead of the usual Google Earth application which may not be available at many schools. Discussion will include choosing appropriate titles, selecting resources to enrich the reading experience. creating a map of important aspects of the story, finding other Lit Trips, and using the Lit Trips in class. As a result of this session and through individual follow-up, teachers will: 1. Learn what is a Google Lit Trip Learn tips about choosing a title; 2. Learn how to find appropriate resources about the book; 3. Learn how to create a customized Google Map; and 4. Explore ideas on using Lit Trips in the classroom. Remember, it is OK2Ask'® questions at any time! This session is appropriate for teachers at all technology levels.

In the Classroom

The archive of this teacher-friendly, hands-on webinar will empower and inspire you to use learning technology in the classroom and for professional productivity. As appropriate, specific classroom examples and ideas have been shared. View the session with a few of your teaching colleagues to find and share new ideas. Find additional information and links to tools at the session resource page. Learn more about OK2Ask and upcoming sessions here.

This recording of an OK2Ask online professional development session from July 2016, opens in Adobe Connect. Participants will have time to explore maps and discover ways they can be implemented into classrooms with students of all ages. As a result of this session and through individual follow-up, teachers will: 1. Explore the difference between Google Maps and its features; 2. Learn about Google My Maps' uses in education; 3. Explore other products from Google Maps; and 4. Plan a way to incorporate maps into an upcoming lesson. Remember, it is OK2Ask'® questions at any time! This session is appropriate for teachers at all technology levels.

In the Classroom

The archive of this teacher-friendly, hands-on webinar will empower and inspire you to use learning technology in the classroom and for professional productivity. As appropriate, specific classroom examples and ideas have been shared. View the session with a few of your teaching colleagues to find and share new ideas. Find additional information and links to tools at the session resource page. Learn more about OK2Ask and upcoming sessions here.

CyArk offers an online library of cultural heritage sites using 3D and digital technology. One of their main goals is to provide a resource for saving representations before losing them to the natural progression of time, disasters, or other unknown factors. View offerings by theme or project for 3D images, photographs, and in-depth information about the site. Within the theme link, use the timeline to view by period, or use the dropdown boxes to choose by culture or country. CyArk also includes many lesson plans based on principles used in creating the website.

In the Classroom

You and your students will love exploring the many areas from around the world on this fascinating site! Be sure to create a link on classroom computers and your class website for students to explore on their own. History and social studies teachers can partner with science and math teachers to present the lesson plans to students. Have students create a multimedia presentation of a cultural site using Voicethread, reviewed here. This site allows users to narrate a picture. Challenge students to find a photo (legally permitted to be reproduced), and then narrate the photo as if it is a news report. Have cooperative learning groups create podcasts sharing details found on CyArk. Use a site such as podOmatic, reviewed here. Take a virtual field trip to any of CyArk's sites without leaving the comfort of your classroom!

Watch the growth of human population from 1 CE through 2050 with this interactive map and timeline. A five-minute video provides an overview of population growth, use the drop-down box to view the video in several different languages. Personalize your viewing experience to adjust features on the map with themes, overlays, and map dots. Click on the timeline below the map to view additional information about events throughout time. Choose the menu to find all the resources on this site, including several lesson plans.

In the Classroom

Try using this website in science class during environmental science units on human population growth. Start the class by sharing this site on an interactive whiteboard (or projector) for students to see. Provide time for students to look at the material and to generate questions about it. Brainstorm not only questions but what students learned from it. Allow groups time to research the economic and social issues that have caused such a change in population and how people live. Challenge students to make a multimedia presentation using Sway, reviewed here, about what they learned from the different time periods or themes. With Sway, you can have music, photos, videos, and even make it interactive.

Discover the world of maps and the stories they tell with this blog from a pair of science journalists. Learn about centuries-old maps as they compare to those developed in today's society, or find out how cartographers are planning to map the surface of the planets. Interesting topics include Mapping the Creatures Living Beneath Our Feet, the First Human Outpost on Mars, Reading a Pilot's Map of the Sky, and several others.

In the Classroom

Although in its infancy, this blog offers a great deal of promise for use in science and social studies classrooms. Subscribe to the RSS feed to view new posts when published. Share with students and have them explore contents further. This blog is wonderful to use for covering the informational reading standards required with the CCSS. Have cooperative learning groups create podcasts demonstrating their understanding of one of the concepts. Use a site such as podOmatic, reviewed here. Use information on the site to compare past and present using an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here.

Keep up to date with the latest 2016 Summer Olympic news from Rio de Janeiro at the official site of the Olympic Games. Follow individual sports through links featuring background on each event, photo galleries, and features on Olympians to watch. Learn more about the athletes and countries by choosing the respective links. Follow this site for the latest information on results, medal counts, photos, videos, and all things Olympic.

In the Classroom

Introduce this site on your interactive whiteboard and allow students to explore on their own. Create a bulletin board to display the latest medal counts, have students update daily with information from the Olympics site. Have students create a simple infographic on their favorite sport using Easel.ly, reviewed here or Venngage reviewed here. Have cooperative learning groups create daily podcasts to share the latest news from the Olympics. Use a site such as PodOmatic (reviewed here).

Get into the excitement of the Summer 2016 Olympic Games with these 16 fun facts! These facts include information about the host city, Rio de Janiero, as well as facts about Olympic games and events. This article provides just enough information to whet your appetite for the games, and learn more about the events!This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Share one fact a day with students as you count down toward the beginning of the 2016 Summer Games, August 5 to 21, 2016. Use this information as a learning center and have students conduct research to learn more about the Olympic Games and Brazil. Challenge students to create a daily annotated image including text boxes and related links using a tool such as Thinglink, reviewed here, with information gathered from their research. Have students create timelines (with music, photos, videos, and more) using Capzles, reviewed here, to show the training process of Olympic athletes. Create a quick poll (with no membership required) using SurveyRock, reviewed here, to find out how many students plan on watching the Olympics, guesses for the number of medals earned by your country, or their choice for potential host cities.
Alternatively, if your school starts after the Olympics are over, use these facts for a discussion of the Olympics. Create a quick poll (with no membership required) using SurveyRock, reviewed here, to find out how many students watched the Olympics. Those students could then share with their peers what they learned from the Rio Olympics using any of the tools suggested above.

GeoInquiries offers standards-based collections for teaching map-based concepts. Choose from several different content topics such as Earth Science, US History, and more. Locate the complete list of available collections on the left side of the homepage. After choosing a broad topic, select a specific activity, then click to open the PDF for easy access to content. In addition to the GeoInquiries, this site also includes several additional lengthier activities including all necessary teacher and student materials.

In the Classroom

Take advantage of the free lessons offered on GeoInquiries for use in your classroom. Divide students into groups to participate in different activities or use as enrichment for gifted students to complete independently. When finished with your inquiries, challenge students to create a presentation using Prezi, reviewed here, demonstrating information learned.

This recording of an OK2Ask online professional development session from June 2016, opens in Adobe Connect. Excite and engage students to jump into learning with tech tools to support direct instruction for vocabulary. Increase the vocabulary in all subjects areas using direct instruction based on Marzano strategies to increase success in school and on achievement tests. Increased vocabulary deepens background knowledge providing a better schemata for different learning experiences. Using the six step approach, discover tech tools to bring the vocabulary from short term memory into long term memory. Discover how the tech tools chosen, can be used to increase student collaboration and provide data for formative assessments. Participants will: 1. Review Marzano's strategies for vocabulary instruction; 2. Explore tools for vocabulary instruction; 3. Learn strategies for student collaboration during vocabulary instruction; and 4. Understand how to create formative assessments for vocabulary using tech tools This session is appropriate for teachers at all technology levels.

In the Classroom

The archive of this teacher-friendly, hands-on webinar will empower and inspire you to use learning technology in the classroom and for professional productivity. As appropriate, specific classroom examples and ideas have been shared. View the session with a few of your teaching colleagues to find and share new ideas. Find additional information and links to tools at the session resource page. Learn more about OK2Ask and upcoming sessions here.

Data USA provides a comprehensive and in-depth look at data across the United States using public government data. Search for data using cities, states, or topics such as education or occupations. When searching for locations, Data USA provides an exhausting overview of demographics, economy, health, and more for the locations. In addition to searching for data, this site also offers many maps demonstrating statistics for population, median age, workforce, and much more. Choose the stories link to read stories written using the data found on the site.

In the Classroom

Bookmark Data USA to use as a resource for finding and comparing U.S. statistics. Explore information about your city or state and compare to other locations. Show students a purpose for these facts by assigning different articles from the Stories section. Dig deeper into current events using this site. Explore the demographics and economy of any place in the news to help understand local issues. If your class has a partner class in another part of the country, Data USA is a perfect resource for sharing and comparing community information. Depending on the topic of study, after exploring this site, challenge students to make a multimedia presentation such as a poster using Check This, reviewed here, an infographic with Piktochart,
reviewed here, or a slide show using Slidestory, reviewed here.

This recording of an OK2Ask online professional development session from March 2016, opens in Adobe Connect. Have you ever used Google Maps to find directions? Sure you have! However, there are so many more things you can do with it, even in the classroom. Learn how to make lit trips, tour famous buildings, create scavenger hunts using coordinates and so much more. In this session, educators will be taken on a journey through the world of Google Maps. This session is appropriate for teachers at Intermediate to advanced technology levels.

As a result of this session and through individual follow-up, teachers will: Explore the difference between Google Maps and My Maps; Discover how to make literacy trips in My Maps; Explore Google Map gallery; Create a map; and Plan a way to incorporate maps into an upcoming lesson.

In the Classroom

Understand how to create a Google My Maps and use all the many built-in features of the traditional Google Maps and related map tools and treks to support classroom instruction. Watch this recording together with a few of your teaching colleagues to collect new ideas. Find additional information and links to tools at the session resource page. Learn more about OK2Ask and upcoming sessions here.

Iditarod: Race Across Alaska is an excellent resource for teaching and learning about the Iditarod. Explore the trail from start to finish to learn about the checkpoints and features available at each stop. Did you know there are two different trails? One for even numbered years (uses Flash), and one for odd numbered years. Other links provide information on the state of Alaska, the history of the Iditarod, an audio slide show (uses Flash), and stories about the mushers. Use information learned to take advantage of the Write About It and Scholastic's Writing Workshop and follow the steps to write a persuasive essay on the treatment of the sled dogs.

In the Classroom

Bookmark this site as an excellent resource when teaching a unit on the Iditarod or Alaska. Create a link to the site on classroom computers for students to explore on their own. Before writing persuasive essays, use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here, to compare and contrast differing points of view. Have students create maps of the Iditarod route using Animaps, reviewed here. Students can add text, images, and location stops!

The Discovery Channel offers overs 30 videos focusing on the Alaskan Iditarod. Topics include training for the race, trail conditions, and sled designs. These short videos (approximately 4 minutes or less) provide excellent background information on the many people and animals involved in the race.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Share one or two videos each day with a projector or interactive whiteboard as part of your Alaska or Iditarod unit. Share videos on your website for students to view at home, then have students create a simple infographic sharing their findings using Venngage, reviewed here. Have students create blogs using Throwww, reviewed here, to share information as they follow the Iditarod race in March. Throwww enables you to create "quick and easy" blogs to be used one time only. Throwww provides a unique URL for sharing your blog.

Learn more about the Inuits of the Article Circle and their hardy, sled dogs with this video from PBS Learning Media. The video focuses on the adaptations of the dogs to the harsh climate and their ability to work together pulling heavy sleds across the snow and ice. Be sure to check out the teaching tips and correlations to National and Common Core Standards included on the site.

In the Classroom

Watch the video together with a projector or on an interactive whiteboard as part of your lessons on the Iditarod. Have students create an annotated image featuring race information with included text boxes, video, and related links using a tool such as Thinglink, reviewed here. Create a class wiki as you learn about sled dogs and the Iditarod. Not comfortable with wikis? Check out the TeachersFirst Wiki Walk-Through.